WALDHAUSEN, vdlt'hau-zee, KONRAD VON: Bohemian precursor of Huss (see Huss, John, Hussites), b. at Waldhausen, near Gran (?0 m. w. of Vienna), c. 1320; d. at Prague Dec. 8, 1369. Of his early life and education little is known, but he must have entered the Upper Austrian monastery of Augustinian canons at Waldhausen while still a lad. He was ordained to the priesthood about 1343, and in his zeal for learning visited Bologna in 1349, being at Rome in the following year. Returning to Teutonic soil, he labored in various places, especially at Vienna, devoting himself primarily to preaching, for which he had a remarkable talent. At Prague his audiences were so large that he was obliged to deliver his sermons in the market-place instead of in the church of St. Gall; and his activity brought him into close relations with the Austrian court and Bishop Gottfried II. of Passau. The emperor summoned Konrad to Prague, where, at Easter, 1358, he became rector of St. Gall in the Old City. There he unsparingly castigated the immorality, luxury, and greed prevailing in high society, and also incurred the jealousy and antagonism of the mendicant friars whom he accused of simony, unseemly trade in relics, and shameless exploiting of the common people. In their turn they charged him with being a disturber of the peace and a renegade from his order. The Dominican general, Simon of Langres, sought in vain to arbitrate the dispute, but Konrad continued his attacks, and the matter was placed in the hands of the archbishop. The Franciscans now drew up twenty-four charges against Konrad, and in the autumn of 1360 the archbishop nailed the charges to the doors of two monasteries, bidding all who would bring accusation against Konrad to appear

before him. The monks were unable to sustain their charges, and the results of Konrad's preaching be came manifest in a marked improvement in the morality of Prague. In 1361 he became rector of St. Thomas', and in the following year invoked the aid of the bishop of Passau. In 1363 he was made parish priest of All Saints' at Leitmeritz, but was still permitted to live in Prague. The Franciscans renewed their attacks, which finally attracted the attention of Konrad's duke, Rudolf IV: of Austria. He visited Prague in May, 1364, and soon satisfied himself of Konrad's integrity. Konrad, however, declined'an invitation to return to Vienna in view of his association with the emperor, though he com posed a refutation of the twenty-four charges of his opponents. Early in 1365 he was placed over the great Teynkirche in Prague, whence, with the pope's permission, he extended his reforming activity not only over the archdioceses of Bohemia and Salzburg, but also urged the emperor to intervene in the des perate conditions in Italy. His sermons, which have made some consider him a precursor of Huss (though he attacked neither the teaching nor the organization of the Church), have disappeared, those extant being merely some that he delivered before students to serve as sources and inspirations for young priests.

(J. Loserth.)

Bibliography: F. Palaeky, Geschichte von Bshmen, iii. 1, pp. 161-164, 5 vols. Prague, 1836 sqq.; idem, Die Vorlaufer des Husitentums in Böhmen, pp. 16-17, Prague, 1869; G. V.. Lechler, Johann van Wiclif und die Vorgeschichte der Reformation, ii. 111 sqq., Leipsic, 1873, Eng. transl., John Wiclif and his English Precursors, 2 vols., new ed., London, 1884; E. H. Gillett, Life and Times of John Hum, i. 14-19, 25, 72, ii. 628, Philadelphia, 1861.